


Painted Yellow

by orphan_account



Category: The Social Network (2010)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Future, Fix-It, M/M, POV Outsider
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-24
Updated: 2014-08-24
Packaged: 2018-02-14 11:05:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,987
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2189331
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sean has always been aware that it's not so much a matter of seeing things as black and white. You can't split the world into good guys and bad guys. </p><p>Sometimes, however, you can shut your eyes, cross your fingers, and land perfectly in the middle.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Painted Yellow

Sean Parker has never been the sort of person to see things as easily as 'black' and 'white.' Honestly, this is part of what has made him so successful at business. Sean does things that aren't morally good, but they’re not economically bad. In much the same way, Sean’s not a good guy, but he’s not necessarily a _bad_ guy.

Really, most of the time, all he’s trying to do is keep going - keep working with the opportunities that have been presented to him. And, if he twists the rules a little to get there, so what? It’s not like he’s ever purposefully set out with the intention to _destroy_ someone. Look, he's really not a _horrible_ person. He’s also not a _wonderful_ person. He's just a person. Doing people things. In business. 

(Though Sean would be lying if he said that he's _never_ been wonderful. After all, he did invent Napstar. That was kind of fantastic.)

It’s funny really, because the whole question of black and white, of good and bad, is initially what attracted Sean to Mark and Eduardo. Honestly, he probably wouldn’t have been able to work his way into Facebook if it hadn't been for the desperation seeping into their dynamic.

That's not to say that it's as simple as most people presume, however, because it was never so much that they were completely different in every way; more that they were different interpretations of the same strip of film.

Mark and Eduardo were a rare work of art, simultaneously displaying hatred and love, heart and mind, inside and outside.

(And Sean’s heard the expression “opposites attract” many a time. Sean has seen it in action with many a person, but never, never had he seen such an interesting example as the case of Mark Zuckerberg and Eduardo Saverin.)

If someone were to ask Sean what colour came to mind when talking about Mark and Eduardo, then Sean would have told them that it was all down to the colour yellow. Painting them in terms of the colour wheel,  Eduardo was lemon bright with sunny days and happy, easy enthusiasm. Mark was mustard, filled with criticism and ego.

Where Eduardo was wisdom and logic, Mark was deceitful and impulsive. Eduardo was the positive aspects, Mark was the negative.

(Consider shadows and highlights. Both caused by the same thing, light – only one shines things in a brighter way, and the other darkens them down. Consider shadows and highlights again. Think about how they’re both essential to create the bigger picture.)

Even still that doesn’t adequately describe the way that they gelled together, because even positives have a downside.

Eduardo’s enthusiasm could easily be naivety; and Mark’s criticisms could simply be in depth analysis. Eduardo’s wisdom and logic could be almost _too_ structured, whereas Mark’s deceit and impulsive actions could be perfect for creating a business. _Were_ perfect for creating a business.

After all, Sean gets his kicks, his money, his _life_ out of flipping things over and making them new. Business isn’t so much creating new things, as taking old things and turning them over in a new, shiny way. Life is all about upgrades, becoming bigger, better, _virtual_. 

It’s this idea that makes Facebook so good, it’s the entire online experience of Myspace or Friendster, but revamped, renewed, remodeled, mashed in with all the goodness of real life.

(Sean is all about remodeling, upgrading. Sean has never flaked out of a company because he destroyed it; he flaked out of companies because they were in the process of destroying themselves. People need change; Sean is just the catalyst for that change.)

It’s interesting, though, because where Mark and Eduardo differentiated from each other in so many ways, they complimented each other in so many more. They wouldn't, _couldn't_ have worked for so long together if they didn't. Eduardo wouldn’t have clung to Mark so tightly, and Mark wouldn’t have _let_ him, if there wasn’t something uniquely special about their duo. Eduardo was one of the only people that could keep up with Mark’s train of thoughts, that could topic jump with him, speak over him, and cut him off. Mark was one of the only people that could pull Eduardo back, stop the onslaught of emotion, calm him down, ground him.

(Though Sean always thought it somewhat laughable that Mark was the only one able to calm Eduardo down, when quite frequently he was also the only person that was able to rile him up.)

They were both such kids, though. Both so young, and with so much space to _grow_ into in a world that they didn’t quite recognise. In ways, they were so much like Sean was himself when he first started Napster. Mark and Eduardo threw themselves headfirst into things – eyes shut, hands held. Sometimes Sean can’t tell if it’s blind luck or blind faith that actually managed to get Facebook up and running, despite how good it was. Mark, in ways, succeeded where no one, no one but Eduardo thought he would.

(And, really, Sean’s not a fan of irony at the best of times, but even he can admit that it’s somewhat bittersweet that the one person that would have given Mark _anything_ to see him succeed, ended up being the only person that was never allowed to.)

And it’s strange to watch the aftermath, really, because Mark will go days, weeks, even – where he’ll say nothing about the lack of Eduardo Saverin in his life. Then one day he’ll make a joke, or a reference, or topic jump, and turn his head just slightly – like he’s still expecting someone to be standing just to the left of him. He'll look over his shoulder, realise there's no one there, and freeze. He’ll stop, just  pause whatever he’s doing, whatever sentence he’s in the middle of and just _stop,_ just stand there – looking like a lost boy, with wide eyes and shaking hands. And, no, Sean’s not necessarily a good person, doesn't really feel remorse about things that he should; but he thinks it would take one of the worst people in the world to look at something like that and not feel a physical  _ache_ in their chest.

(Sean sometimes thinks that in those moments, it’s like watching Mark change from yellow to white, right before his eyes, paling out and lose hope, piece by piece. In those moments, Mark is fragile.)

No, Sean Parker doesn’t see the world in terms of black and white. He knows that he’s not the best person; but he also knows that he’s not the worst, he's never been the worst. And he cares about Mark. Sean cares about _stupid_ , careful, impulsive, _genius,_ Mark. So one day, when Mark pauses, when he shifts to the side and then freezes, Sean reaches out and touches his shoulder and says,  
“You should try and contact him.”

(And, oh god, the way that Mark looks at him, one part angry, one part sad, one part hopeful – because Sean has taught himself never to regret pushing for the successful business decisions, but sometimes, sometimes, _sometimes_  he regrets pushing for the unsuccessful personal ones.)

"I don't think so." Mark says, and Sean stares at him. Looks at the guy that built a billion dollar website in university, in a _week._ At the guy he’s seen eating tuna straight out of the can, on no less than _eighteen_  different occasions. Sean looks at Mark. Mark, who he considers his best friend. Mark Zuckerberg, simultaneously the brightest shade of yellow Sean has ever seen, and the murkiest one. And Sean thinks that if he told Mark anything else other than to go for it right now, he’d stop being half bad, half good, and just end up being right in with the black, with the murkiness and the darkness and the result of nothing good.

(Because, no, you can’t categorize people into two simple sections and call it all a done deal - but maybe sometimes you can shut your eyes, stick out your hands, and allow yourself to fall straight down the middle. Because if Sean were the sort of person to believe in karma, then he thinks that he could probably cancel himself all out. Do a bad thing, and then fix it with a good thing. Sean has never claimed to live his life in anything other than shades of grey.)

So Sean supervises as Mark writes out a hesitant email to Eduardo. He watches as Mark deliberates over laptop keys in a way that seems unnatural for hands that are normally so quick. Sean watches as Mark seems to glow more and more with each word, like he's unloading weight, dark matter, like he's freeing himself up. And when a short email has finally been sent; then Mark turns to Sean, and he smiles wide, despite the nervousness that still seems to be present in his hands, and he looks at Sean, and Sean, for the first time in his life, feels like a _good_ guy. Like he's all good, like he's shades of green and gold, glittering up. 

(Because before it had always seemed as if Eduardo was the only one that was sun yellow, like only he could be golden and feed off the sky. In that moment, though, right then and there, it looks as if Mark has lifted something off his shoulders, it looks as if Mark is the colour of corn fields, and sandy beaches, like Mark is the whole of the outside, like he's collecting the breath of everything good, and collecting it into himself, shining one colour.)

Then, from that point on it seems like Mark is always in contact with Eduardo. There are hesitant emails, then texts, then tentative phone calls, until one day Mark bursts into the Facebook offices and announces that he’s taking the next few days off, because he’s got a flight booked out for Singapore, and he needs, he just _needs_  to be there. So without thinking about it, Sean looks at him and says,  
“Go be yellow together.”

And Mark just laughs, head thrown back, the kind of easy happiness Sean has never seen him wear before, the kind of easy happiness Sean didn't think he _could_ wear before. And Mark looks at Sean like he _knows,_ like he understands the whole thought process that Sean took to get to that one stupid sentence, and he simply replies,  
“I personally always thought Wardo made me shine more golden than yellow.”

(And when Mark takes off out the door, so quick he’s almost floating, Sean thinks about how it looks like there’s a trail of colours streaking after him. Thinks about how never mind gold, Mark is the colours of the rainbow, the colours of the sun and the sky and the sea and the colours of _Facebook._ Thinks about how you can’t split the world into good and bad, but you can do it with memories, you can do it with thoughts, with feelings. And everything that’s going on right now can only be good.)

 

* * *

 

 

(And, if one day Sean hacks into Mark's emails, well, he only wants to see what started it all, and he never claimed to be a  _good_ person. 

 

 **From:**[mzuckerberg@facebook.com](mailto:mzuckerberg@facebook.com)  
 **To:**[eduardo_saverin@gmail.com](mailto:eduardo_saverin@gmail.com)  
 **Subject:** Gold

I know that it’s probably all too late now, but I wanted you to know that I am sorry. Not for cutting you out of Facebook, you weren't right for the company, and I wouldn't change that, but I'm sorry I hurt you, I'm sorry I lost you.   
And I know that this might sound selfish, but I'm sorry because it made me realize that I'm in love with you. I just, I don't know how else to explain it other than when you smiled it always made me feel like there was molten gold going through my heart.

\- Mark. )

 

**Author's Note:**

>  **Disclaimer:** _This is a work of fiction based entirely off of David Fincher's 2010 film. I claim no connection to the real Mark Zuckerberg or Eduardo Saverin, and am very sorry that this happened to them. Believe me, if I was making any profit from any of this, the movie itself would have gone a very different way._
> 
> This all came to me when I was watching The Social Network for an uncountable time, only this time I got distracted by the fact that Fincher literally uses so, _so_ much of the colour yellow. So, I started Googling the meaning behind yellow - and it's interesting, because there's no better colour to describe Mark Zuckerberg (at least, the way he's portrayed in the movie.) Anyway, this is the result of all that.
> 
> I think it's kind of obvious that I have a soft spot the size of Pluto for Sean Parker. It's okay, though, because I have a soft spot the size of the _sun_ for Mark. (Which is entirely Jesse Eisenberg's fault, let's be real.)
> 
> Also, if you enjoyed this fic, then please, _please_ feel free to comment/kudos/bookmark, because I have a very fragile self esteem, and will take any form of ego feeding that I can get.


End file.
